“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
Mark Twain
Roosevelt's words suggest that each new day genuinely resets something in a person. Overnight, the mind and spirit have a chance to recover from yesterday's difficulties, and the morning brings with it a fresh capacity for clear thinking and renewed energy. The quote encourages people not to carry the weight of yesterday into today, but to meet the morning as an opportunity rather than a continuation of whatever went wrong.
Eleanor Roosevelt spoke and wrote extensively about resilience, personal courage, and the importance of facing difficulty with determination. This particular sentiment fits within her long-held belief that ordinary people possess more inner resources than they tend to credit themselves with. She frequently encouraged individuals, especially women, to trust their own strength and to resist being defined by setbacks. The idea of the new day as a source of renewal was consistent with her practical, forward-looking outlook.
Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945 and went on to have a distinguished independent career as a diplomat, humanitarian, and writer. She chaired the United Nations committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Throughout her life she wrote columns, books, and speeches addressing human dignity, civil rights, and the potential of everyday people to make a meaningful difference in the world.
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
Mark Twain
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson · Society and Solitude, 1870
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
Annie Dillard · The Writing Life, 1989
“Friends are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the road to a happier life.”
Pythagoras
“Educate the children and it won't be necessary to punish the men.”
Pythagoras
“Silence is better than unmeaning words.”
Pythagoras
“Reason is immortal, all else mortal.”
Pythagoras
“The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil.”
Pythagoras
“As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom.”
Pythagoras
“Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will.”
Pythagoras
“It is better either to be silent, or to say things of more value than silence.”
Pythagoras
“Do not allow sleep to close your eyes until you have gone over the events of the day three times.”
Pythagoras · Golden Verses